9MAY 2024TOP STORIESNAYARA ENERGY TO INVEST IN TWO ETHANOL MANUFACTURING FACILITIESUS LOSES TOP SPOT TO CHINA AS INDIA'S LARGEST TRADING PARTNERNayara Energy, backed by Russian energy giant Rosneft, is gearing up to invest 600 crore in setting up two ethanol manufacturing plants in India. These plants, with a daily production capacity of 200 kilo liters of ethanol each, will be established in Andhra Pradesh's Naidupeta and Madhya Pradesh's Balaghat and are expected to be operational by 2026. The company plans to utilize broken rice and maize as feedstock for ethanol production. In the long term, Nayara Energy aims to establish five ethanol manufacturing plants.Prasad Panicker, Executive Chairman at Nayara Energy, emphasized the company's significant plans for ethanol production, driven by the goal to achieve a 20% ethanol blending ratio by 2025. The initial phase will involve setting up two ethanol plants, with aspirations for further expansion in the future.Additionally, Nayara Energy is diversifying its operations beyond ethanol production. It is set to inaugurate a polypropylene unit within its Vadinar facility in Gujarat, with an investment of 6,000 crore. Furthermore, the company is allocating 4,000 crore towards refinery modernization to enhance its lifespan and reliability, with investments expected to continue until 2026.Nayara Energy currently holds an eight percent share in India's refining capacity and fuel retailing markets, along with a seven percent share in petrochemicals. Panicker highlighted the company's growth trajectory over the past few years, including expansion into petrochemicals and retail business. The company aims to further expand its fuel retail footprint from 6,600 outlets to 10,000 within three to four years, in line with its vision to diversify its product portfolio and lead in the high-growth petrochemical industry while meeting domestic energy demands. China has once again become India's top trading partner, surpassing the United States for the first time in two years, according to the latest data from the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI). Bilateral trade between India and China in the fiscal year 2024 reached $118.4 billion, with imports increasing by 3.24 percent to $101.7 billion and exports growing by 8.7 percent to $16.67 billion.On the other hand, the trade relationship between India and the US experienced a slight downturn. Bilateral trade in the fiscal year 2024 totaled $118.3 billion, with Indian exports declining slightly by 1.32 percent to $77.5 billion and imports dropping by 20 percent to $40.8 billion.The economic interaction between India and China has attracted significant attention, especially due to India's reliance on Chinese imports in crucial sectors such as telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, and advanced technology.The GTRI report highlighted this dependence, noting that India imported $4.2 billion worth of telecom and smartphone parts, representing 44 percent of total imports in this category, and $3.8 billion worth of laptops and PCs, constituting 77.7 percent of India's imports in this sector.In response to this trend, India has implemented several strategies to reduce its reliance on Chinese imports. These measures include the implementation of production-linked incentive schemes (PLI), the imposition of anti-dumping duties, and the enforcement of quality control orders. Additionally, India's import of lithium-ion batteries, primarily sourced from China and crucial for electric vehicles, reached $2.2 billion, accounting for 75 percent of such imports. This underscores China's pivotal role in India's efforts towards transportation electrification.
< Page 8 | Page 10 >